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Cougars in seventh heaven as Trojans edge Hornets

Devonshire Cougars 7Southampton Rangers 0Devonshire Cougars are one step away from claiming a maiden ‘Triple Crown’ as they thrashed Southampton Rangers in the second match of a double header at Goose Gosling Field yesterday.Drewonde Bascome scored a 15 minute hat-trick coming off the bench, while Moses Steede grabbed a brace, and Kijuan Franks and Jesse Seymour both scored solo efforts.The mission to win their third FA Cup in four years was sent into motion by Steede who opened the scoring in the fifth minute after neat work down the right flank by Domico Coddington found him in space in the Rangers area.Franks doubled the lead in the 18th when he rose above everyone in the area to latch onto a cross that was put back into the area.Things went from bad to worse for Rangers, who found themselves down by three in the 40th minute after Steede was put behind their back line by Cougars skipper Chris Caisey Jr, with the midfielder calmly slotting past Jason Smith.Salt was being rubbed in the wounds as Seymour added further misery in the 45th when he curled his left footed free kick into the near post to leave the match all but settled.Rangers coach Marvin Belboda came on at the half and almost made an immediate impact, but his precise cross was put wide from six yards by Ezekiel Stoneham two minutes into the second half.Steede then had a chance to get his third from the penalty spot after Coddington was brought down, but Smith dived to his right to make the stop.The Bascome show would proceed the miss, when he grabbed his first in the 65th minute after only being on the field for three minutes, completing another mazy run by Coddington to slide home from close range.He would break the offside trap in the 77th minute to slot home, and completed his hat trick one minute later when he faked a pass to LaVintz Tota and beat Smith at his near post.The Digicel Premier Division and Friendship champions now face off against coach Dennis Brown’s former club, Somerset Trojans, in the final on Sunday.“We wanted to come out and get on top from the outset, and the first goal settled us and allowed us to get into our rhythm,” said Caisey. “The scoreline was lopsided but we wanted to continue to apply pressure and keep to our game plan.“It could have been more for us but that wasn’t the goal, to run up the score, but it is good to see that we have our scoring boots and want to take this win and performance into the final match of the season.”Devonshire Cougars: K Trott, D Williams, K Franks (D Daniels, 67), D Cox (C Trott, 51), L Tota, Z Iris, D Coddington, Z White(D Bascome, 63), C Caisey, M Steede, J SeymourGoals: M Steede, 8,40, K Franks, 17, J Seymour 40, D Bascome, 65,77,78Yellow card: Z IrisSouthampton Rangers: J Smith, M Burch, K Simmons, K Astwood, K Richardson (K Richardson, 45), M Ferreira, T Russell, E Stoneham (R Lowe, 58), V Perinchief, D Russell, J CharlesYellow card: K SimmonsReferee: A MouchetteMan of the Match: D Coddington (Cougars).Dandy Town 2 (4)Somerset Trojans 2 (5)Somerset Trojans came from two goals down to advance to the FA Cup final as they overcame Dandy Town after extra time in the first semi-final.Trojans Ijahmon Mallory’s double from the penalty spot cancelled out Caldre Burgess and Terrence Webb’s strikes for Town.“It was a total team effort put forth by everyone today and when you look at what we did, to be two goals down and to come back and win was great,” said Trojans striker Johnny Bean.“When you head into a penalty shoot-out no one wants to lose and we managed to hold our composure and get the job done.”Burgess got the city club off to the best possible start with his strike in the eighth minute, calmly using the outside of the boot to beat Shaquille Bean at the back post.Trojans winger Tahj Wade had a chance to level matters in the 18th minute when he was found in space in the area, but hit his effort right at Treadwell Gibbons Jr in the Town goal.Alton Trott was also wasteful in front of goal, missing a header from three yards when it was harder to not hit the target.They would pay for their wastefulness when youngster Webb hit a screamer from 30 yards to double his side’s lead.The drama kicked off in the 75th minute when Malachi Jones was brought down in the area, with Mallory calmly stepping up to get the west enders on the scoreboard.He would be the one to draw the sides even in the 88th minute when he stroked home his second of the day after substitute Jahi Simmons was hauled down in the area.Extra time brought no winner, leaving the tie to be settled with kicks from the spot.Mallory missed the first penalty of the shoot-out, going second for his club, but was left off the hook when Kamen Tucker tried a cheeky chip that Bean grabbed comfortably.Youngster Zaire Burchall would miss his kick that proved the nail in Town’s coffin, with ‘keeper Bean stepping up and driving home his effort to send his side through to the final at the National Sports Centre (NSC).“A final is always special, and to be playing in the FA Cup final for Somerset makes it all the better,” said Johnny Bean.Dandy Town: T Gibbons, J Stowe, K Tucker, K Wade, T Webb, S Furbert, D Ming, F Frankson, C Burgess (T Goater, 85), K Lathan, D Butterfield (L Symonds, 85)Goals: C Burgess, 8, T Webb, 67Somerset Trojans: S Bean, I Mallory, T Ming, T Burgess, J Rogers, S Brangman, L Burgess (M Jones, 61), T Wade (J Simmons, 75), J Harvey-Outerbridge, A Trott, JBeanGoals: I Mallory, 75,88Yellow card: J BeanReferee: L RaynorMan of the Match: S Bean (Trojans).